Established in 2006, American Indians in Children's Literature (AICL) provides critical perspectives and analysis of indigenous peoples in children's and young adult books, the school curriculum, popular culture, and society. Scroll down for links to book reviews, Native media, and more.

Monday, April 25, 2016

Editor's Note: Beverly Slapin submitted this review of Susan L. Roth's Prairie Dog Songs. It may not be used elsewhere without her written permission. All rights reserved. Copyright 2016. Slapin is currently the publisher/editor of De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children.

Based on the cumulative song, “Green
Grass Grows All Around,” each double-page spread in Roth's book includes a verse from the
song, a collage, and information that focuses on prairie dogs, environmental
destruction of the grassland ecosystem and the return to biodiversity. Younger
readers are encouraged to engage with the art and sing along with the lyrics on
each page (and music and separate lyrics in the back matter). The text for
older readers is more informative.

Roth’s signature illustrations,
rendered in paper and fabric collage, will especially appeal to young children.
Each page-and-a-half spread reflects the daytime and nighttime skies and clouds
in mostly blues and greens, and the earth in mostly browns and greens. As well,
the animals—from the littlest prairie dogs to the huge buffalo—hold their
places in this delicate ecosystem, and it appears that Roth has carefully
placed each blade of grass as well.

According to the publicity sheet:

Prairie Dog Song traces the history of the grasslands from
the first settlers who arrived in the 1800s to the scientists working to preserve
them. For thousands of years, grasses covered the area of North America,
stretching from the south of Canada to the north of Mexico and creating what is
still one of our most important and wide-reaching ecosystems. The tiny prairie
dog was its caretaker, burrowing into the ground and keeping the soil rich
enough to sustain many other species. But what happens when we humans chase
away those tiny caretakers?

Unfortunately, this otherwise engaging
picture book is fatally flawed, in that there are only four short references—dismissive
ones at that—to the Indigenous peoples who, despite the many attempts of the settlers
and government forces to dislodge them, continue to return and maintain the
land. All of these references appear in the text for older readers; there is
nothing in the lyrics or illustrations that refers to Native peoples.

This text is towards the middle of the
book (unpaginated):

For thousands of years, prairie dogs
lived alongside the Native peoples of the grasslands. Some Native groups
survived by gathering plants and hunting the big animals, including bison,
that ate the rich grass near prairie dogs’ burrows. Other groups were both
hunters and farmers, growing crops such as corn, beans, and squash.

Then, in the 1800s, the United
States government began forcing Native peoples from the grasslands so the land
could be offered to settlers. The settlers saw fine, fertile areas where
they could graze their cattle and horses and grow crops. The covered the land
with fields, ranches, houses, and roads that destroyed the prairie dogs’
territory.

Within
sixty years of the arrival of farmers and ranchers, most of the prairie dogs
were dead. The settlers did not understand the role prairie dogs played in
keeping the grasses healthy.... Prairie dogs, the animals that ate them, and
the animals that lived with them began to disappear. So did the bison, which
were hunted for their skins. (emphasis
mine)

There are
also two short and strange references in the back matter timeline:

(1) Prehistory: In what is now Janos Biosphere
Reserve, in Chihuahua, Mexico, live hunter-gatherers who leave behind
petroglyphs and arrowheads. (2) 1689:
Military outpost established to protect Janos from Apache raids, although
Apache still venture frequently into area.

This
“disappearance” or dismissal of Native peoples in a discussion of the history
of the land and a particular ecosystem is nothing less than a justification of
colonialism and genocide. None of the major reviewers—Kirkus Reviews, Publishers
Weekly and School Library Journa1 gave
this book starred reviews—seems to have noticed this, and children will not,
either. Unless they are Native children.

So it seems
to be fitting to end this review with Indigenous peoples have the last word.
The following is part of a statement released by the Assembly of First Nations
in Canada:

Indigenous
peoples are caretakers of Mother Earth and realize and respect her gifts of
water, air and fire. First Nations peoples have a special relationship with the
earth and all living things in it. This relationship is based on a profound
spiritual connection to Mother Earth that guided indigenous peoples to practice
reverence, humility and reciprocity. It is also based on the subsistence needs
and values extending back thousands of years. Hunting, gathering, and fishing
to secure food includes harvesting food for self, family, the elderly, widows,
the community, and for ceremonial purposes. Everything is taken and used with
the understanding that we take only what we need, and we must use great care
and be aware of how we take and how much of it so that future generations will
not be put in peril.

For the earlier
grade levels noted, Prairie Dog Song
is not recommended; for older students who may be learning how to read
critically or for college students taking courses on deconstructing texts in
children’s literature, maybe.

2 comments:

Every book cannot be everything to everyone. As it is, Prairie Dog Song is already trying to do too much in its pages. There's the cumulative song, there are the environmental issues with regard to the food cycle disruption, and suddenly we're in Mexico looking at a reintroduction program. The illustrations, while interesting, do not help the frenetic look of the package as a whole. This seems like a well-intentioned book that somehow lost its way. I can't imagine wedging in Native content to the morass that it became.

First Peoples listed AICL as one of the Top Five Native Blogs and Podcast to follow. School Library Journal's Elizabeth Burns featured AICL as her Blog of the Day on July 2, 2007, and in 2007, the ALA's Association for Library Service to Children invited Debbie to write a blog post for their site.

American Indian? Or, Native American? There is no agreement among Native peoples. Both are used. It is best to be specific. Example: Instead of "Debbie Reese, a Native American," say "Debbie Reese, a Nambe Pueblo Indian woman."